Music-chart



E. McOUATr MUSIC CHRT.

APPLICATION FILED .IULY 17,1919. 1 ,353,486. PatentedSept. 21, 1920.

ooh nay Me Fav; sah Lan Te Dah' d@ e@ f@ g@ a@ b@ c@ df@ WHWWIHIIIIIIIL f# c# nhfnay Me Pah sah Lah Te Doh' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELIZABETH MCOUAT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MUSIC-CHART,

Application filed July 17, 1919.

T 0 all w hom t may conce/M1.:

children, or other pupils, to play the scales by ear by providing them with charts upon which they can readily indicate the notes they have played. The apparatus may also be used in teaching the scales theoretically,

but it is better that the pupils rst acquaintance with the scales should come through hearing rather than through reasoning. Before beginning the scale-building it is desirable that the Vpupil should be able to sing the syllables. In those exceptional cases in which the pupil is-unable to sing he must be able to recognize the scale when it is played, to associate each tone mentally with its syllable, and to detect any tonev that is misplayed.

The invention consists, generally, .of a plurality of charts, one for each musical scale, each chart bearing two registering series of fixed characters representing the notes of the scale; one series indicating the relative pitch of the eight notes of the scale; the other series corresponding to the white keys of a piano from any desired keynote; anda plurality of markers or disks attachable to the charts for indicating any modification by ats, Sharps, double sharps, or natural signs, which may be required in forming a scale of a given keynote.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the chart for the scale of D major; Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the markers or Vdisks employed in recording the variations in pitch required in building the scale; and, Fig. 4 shows the chart with the markers in position thereon and with the key signature card juxtaposed.

It is to be understood that my invention comprises apparatus for building all musical scales and that the scale of D major has been selected for illustration merely as an example. In each instance the construction and arrangement of the charts are the same except that the alphabetical characters are varied as required by the particular keynote,

`Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1920. serial No. 311,445.

and that, in the case of the minor scales, the syllabic notation beginning with Lah and ending with La i is employed to denote the relative pitch of the notes.

Referring to the drawings, l indicates a chart made of cardboard or other suitable material marked with eight senting the eight notesV of a diatonic scale. The chart bears a series of characters indieatingl the relative pitch of the notes, such as the syllables Doh to Doh,77 or the numbers l to 8, depending upon the system of divisions reprenotation used; together with a second series giving the alphabeticall characters, or other marks, corresponding to the white keys of a piano from any desired keynote. For eX- ample, lin the chart illustrated in Fig. l the rst mentioned characters are indicated by the syllables Doh to Doh while the last mentioned characters are indicated by q the letters cl to CZ, respectively.

An opening or shallow hole 2 is formed in each division of the chart, adjacent to the alphabetical character for receiving the markers or disks 3 whereby modifications in pitch are indicated. The markers or disks are made to lit into the openings and they each bear a character, such as a sharp, flat, or natural, required for building the various scales. y

A second set of markers having characters of a different color or otherwise distinguished from the markers 3 used in building the scales may be provided. These auX- iliary markers are similar in construction to lthe markers 3 and are intended to be eX- changed for the latter, after the scale has been built, in order to indicate, in the major scales, the last flat or sharp added, and, in the minor scales, the notes which are foreign to, or contradict the signature.

The apparatus includes a series of cards 4 each bearing one of the various key signatures and adapted to be placed in juxtaposition to its companion chart as shown in Fig. 4.

The manner in which the apparatus is used is as follows:

In building the scale of any keynote, the pupil is given the chart of that keynote and is instructed to build the scale by ear by recording on the chart, by means of the markers 3, any alteration in pitch of the tones that may be required. For example, assuming that the pupil is required to build the scale of D major, he would be given the chart shown in Fig. l and told to play the scale on arpiano. rind, by his sense of hearing, that both 7V and c require sharps and he would accordingly insertmarkers bearing the sharp signin the openings in-the chart adjacent to those let ters.

After the pupilhas gained some facility in Y j building the scales he may count the flats or Y 4to stand out sharp added to a'scale, jits signature, 1s always.

- ,scale charts may Sharps in each one as he nishes it add'the properfsignature card. j With the various charts arranged in orderaccording to the number of flats o r Sharps-and the proper signaturesattached, it is a simple rnatter k.to `discover which flat or sharp is used in any scalethat was not in the preceding one.. This, when found, can Vbe made from the others by substituting one of the auxiliary markers for the marker used in building the scale.

the pupil may be scale, and that the last vflat is the 4L or Fah of the scale.

To show how the'sharp scales follow'each other` in succession of ascending fifths, the

Ray,f Me, Fah, in'alinernent with thefSoh,

Lah, Te,Doh of the preceding scale. A Simi-Vi V la rly In doing this he would Y and then' In this manner led to observe that the last.VV and consequently to the 7.or Te of the.V

- charts to indicate be arranged with the Doh,

the succession of flat scales in descending iiths may be shown by placing the Soh,

Lah Te', Doho'f each scale in alinement with Y the'yDoh, Ray, Me, Fah of the preceding scale; Y The scale of A minor is used as the pattern for the ininor'scales, both harmonic and melodic. AfterA the minor scales have been built, the Vcorrect signatures can be vdiscovered by comparing each with `its relative major and theyariations from the signatures may then bey indicated Vby the auxiliary markers. VThe natural signs will not be needed when building thel scales by ear, must, obviously, be used after thesignatures have been added. ,p i

That I claim is: Y

A. plurality of rnusic charts, Veach bearing. two registering series of Vfixed charactersl representing the notes of a'scale; one series Y correspondin Vto the whitekeys of a piano upy from any desired lpreynotef; the other series givingvthe syllables of the` diatonic scale from Doh; and, markers attachable to the of the fiirstfmentioned series; Vwhereby the two series may be made to indicate the same scale; n

u Y* achange ofpltch of notes 

